Canada's Global Television has begun using Orad Hi-Tec System’s ProSet virtual studio solution for the second phase of a project set to deliver local news to widely dispersed local markets across Canada.

Using Orad ProSet, Global TV can present news to its viewers in a familiar setting from the anchor desk using virtual plasma screens, said Gerry Belec, Global TV director of technology and design.

An English-language broadcaster owned by Canwest Global Communications, Global TV is Canada's second largest network with a viewership spread across five and a half time zones. With the goal of airing comprehensive, compelling news broadcasts, the Global TV engineering team arrived at the regional production approach that uses Orad's ProSet solution.

Global TV's broadcast supercenters are located in Vancouver, Toronto, Edmonton and Calgary, with additional stations in Lethbridge, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg, Montreal and Halifax as well as sister CH News stations in Victoria, Kelowna, Red Deer and Hamilton.

Relying on Orad ProSet to import models along with their geometry, textures and animations directly from multiple design platforms into an HD/SD virtual set, Global TV is using the Orad HDVG (high-definition video graphics) rendering platform to ensure that its virtual sets run in real time without a glitch. Integrated with ENPS using MOS, the broadcaster’s ProSet enables integration of multiple live video streams and clips and in the future will facilitate an upgrade to HD.

Global TV's smaller stations rely on a two-camera studio setup, while the larger stations are using three cameras; all of them are associated with Telemetrics robotics and a Telemetrics H Frame rig. The virtual sets were designed by Full Mental Jacket of Los Angeles using 3D Studio MAX, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Photoshop and then exported as VRML into the ProSet HDVG rendering platform.

The FAA’s current rules and proposed ban on flight over people, requirement of visual line of sight and restriction on nighttime flying, effectively prohibit broadcasters from using UAS for newsgathering. ~ WMUR-TV General Manager Jeff Bartlett